True Grit - The Secret To Success
Personal Business Skills Articles
Submit Articles Back to Articles
Louis
Pasteur (the French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his
discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation
and pasteurization) once said, �Let me tell you the secret that has led
to achieving my goals: My strength lies solely in my tenacity.�
Pasteur
would have approved of �Grit to Great,� the insightful new book by
Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval. According to the authors,
individuals with grit � guts, resilience, initiative, and tenacity �
have a distinct advantage. "Gritty" people throw away their security
blankets, learn to embrace uncertainty, and ultimately triumph over
adversity and set-backs.
These
women should know. Through their personal grit, Thaler and Koval grew a
fledging start-up into a billion-dollar agency in New York, whose
clients included Proctor & Gamble, Pifzer, Citi, and Aflac.
Stories and examples of just how they achieved this are featured In
�Grit to Great.� I highly recommend this insightful book because the
basic principles � the �ingredients of grit� -- are applicable to
everyone. Here is a small sampling of those ingredients . . .
Linda
Kaplan Thaler/Robin Koval: It starts with guts.
�Grit begins with the courage
to take on a tough challenge, and not falter in the face of adversity.�
Carol
Kinsey Goman: That reminds me of a television interview where
Whoopie Goldberg described how she got her first one-woman show in New
York: Goldberg was performing her nightclub act and (the director) Mike
Nichols was in the audience. He came backstage and offered to create a
show for her in a Broadway theater. Goldberg said she didn�t know if
that was such a good idea. What if she were lousy? Nichols asked if
she�d ever been lousy before and Goldberg said �Sure.� His response
was, �Then it�s no big deal. You�ll just be lousy on Broadway.�
Thaler/Koval:
�Resilience is what gives grit its elasticity. Studies show that people
with a high degree of grit are able to stay focused and motivated,
whatever failures, obstacles, and adversities get in their way.�
Goman:
When I interview business leaders, I notice that the most successful
ones have an interesting attitude about failure. One project manager
summed it up when he said, �If this venture fails, it will still be
worth all the time and effort I�ve put into it for the past 18 months.
Just look at everything I�ve learned.� More recently, when I asked Suzy
Monford, the new CEO of Andronico�s, how she handled setbacks, she
replied, �I don�t believe in setbacks. I try to fail quickly, learn
from it, shake it off, and move forward.�
Thaler/Koval:
�Initiative � being a self-starter � is what makes grit dynamic, what
sets it in motion.�
Goman:
I�ve learned that the most important part of goal setting is
not stating the objective. It�s getting started, taking that first step
toward achievement.
Research
shows that�s true even when the process is all in your mind. In a
University of California study, researchers had a group of students
visualize doing well in an exam, and another group visualizing taking
the necessary steps to reach the goal. The results were clear in favor
of the group who visualized studying, reading and gaining required
skills and knowledge. They not only did better, but spent longer
preparing, focused more attention on the steps needed to reach the
goal, and reduced anxiety in the process.
Thaler/Kaplan:
Tenacity is the relentless ability to stay focused on a goal.
Goman:
Success has often been compared to an iceberg. We see only the top of
the iceberg, the achievement. We see the Nobel prize winner, the
Olympic champion, the entrepreneur who became a billionaire. What we
don�t see is the 90% that is hidden beneath the surface. We don�t see
the disappointments, the failures, the setbacks, the sacrifices, the
dedication, the passion, the hard-wired optimism, the tenacity, and the
plain hard work that is the foundation of people�s success -- whether
they are scientists, athletes or business professionals.
Thaler/Kaplan:
Grit is the great equalizer in life, because anyone, at any time,
whatever their background or resources, can lay claim to it. With grit,
there�s no telling how far you can go, how much you can do, or how
successful you can be.
About the Author
Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D.,
is an international speaker, executive coach, and author of �The Silent
Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help � or Hurt � How You
Lead.� Contact Carol by email: [email protected] or through
her website: www.CarolKinseyGoman.com.
Authors Google+
Authors Linkedin
Follow us @Scopulus_News
Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2015-11-06 10:14:38 in Personal Articles
